Spanish Grand Prix – Reaction expected from Aston Martin
This weekend, Formula 1 returns to the Barcelona circuit for the fourth Grand Prix of the season. This is an opportunity for Aston Martin to put on a brave face, after three complicated Grand Prix.
The team that made its arrival, or rather its return to Formula 1 this season, Aston Martin, did not have the start of the season it could have hoped for. While last year under the Racing Point banner, the team was the big surprise and controversy of the season with their ultra-performing single-seaters, it’s a whole different story this season. After three Grand Prix races, the team has only five small points, ranking in seventh place in the championship, ahead only of the teams that have not scored any points, namely Alfa Romeo, Williams, and Haas.
We were certainly expecting the legendary British brand to be stronger at the beginning of this season. Especially since it has the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel on its team. However, even at this level, things are not working out. The performances of the German driver at the beginning of this season are on par with his previous season, insufficient. With 0 points after three Grand Prix races, the four-time world champion is currently delivering a very pale performance, sitting in 17th position in the drivers’ championship.
Nonetheless, this needs to be put into perspective by considering that he is in a transition between two teams, so he needs a certain amount of time to adapt, as seen with Ricciardo at McLaren, for example. Furthermore, the Aston Martin AMR21 does not have the necessary pace to compete with the front-runners in the midfield for the moment. However, the season is shaping up to be long and eventful, and the Silverstone-based team still has time to regroup and properly develop their cars, in order to make up for the ground they have lost.
« We will aim for the points again this weekend »
Improvements have been made to the car since the Portuguese Grand Prix and should be truly put to good use this weekend on both single-seaters. The Canadian driver of the team, Lance Stroll, has also spoken out and seemed optimistic about Aston Martin’s performance this weekend in Barcelona.
The Portugal wasn’t a great weekend for us, but we did a lot of laps and learned more about the development of the AMR21. We saw how crucial it is to extract the most out of the car, especially in the tight and unpredictable midfield, and we will aim for points again this weekend, said the Canadian driver.
